Hall v. Wabash R. Co.

• Decision Date: 02 April 1912
• Citation: 145 S.W. 1169
• Parties: HALL v. WABASH R. CO.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

145 S.W. 1169

HALL v. WABASH R. CO.

St. Louis Court of Appeals. Missouri,

April 2, 1912.

Rehearing Denied April 16, 1912.

1. MASTER AND SERVANT (§ 289)—INJURY TO SERVANT — CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE — EVIDENCE.

In an action for injuries to a servant from a falling door while engaged in work which he had been directed to do by his foreman, whether plaintiff was negligent in going to work amid dangerous surroundings held for the jury.

2. MASTER AND SERVANT (§§ 155, 101, 102)— INJURY TO SERVANT—SAFE PLACE TO WORK.

A master must exercise ordinary care to furnish a servant with a place to work as reasonably safe as the character of the work undertaken will permit, and to warn him of known dangers, which are not open, and of threatening probabilities of hurt to such employé.

3. MASTER AND SERVANT (§ 231)—INJURIES TO SERVANT—SAFE PLACE TO WORK—CONTROL OF SERVANT.

Where a master or his foreman retains control of and directs the movements of a servant, the servant may place a reasonable reliance upon the master's care for his safety, and obey such orders as are given, in the absence of imminent danger.

4. DAMAGES (§ 132)—EXCESSIVE DAMAGES —PERSONAL INJURIES.

Where a servant injured by a falling door sustained three broken ribs, an injury to his shoulder, and a permanent injury to his back which would preclude him from doing manual labor to any extent, a verdict of $2,000 was not excessive.

5. MASTER AND SERVANT (§ 291)—INJURIES TO SERVANT — INSTRUCTIONS — CONFORMITY TO PLEADINGS.

Where, in an action for injuries to a servant, the petition charged generally that defendant breached its obligation to furnish plaintiff a reasonably safe place to work and its foreman negligently ordered him therein, an instruction authorizing a recovery if it appeared that he was working in the place under an order of his foreman, and the "door mentioned in the testimony fell, and injured and crippled him by reason of the negligence and failure on the part of the defendant to investigate and ascertain the dangerous condition of such door," was proper, as, where the allegation is general, the instructions may submit any particular act of negligence revealed by the evidence.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Montgomery County; James D. Barnett, Judge.

Action by Willis H. Hall against the Wabash Railroad Company. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals. Affirmed.

J. L. Minnis, G. Pitman Smith, and H. W. Johnson, for appellant. John M. Barker, James L. Barker, and Nowlin & Hughes, for respondent.

NORTONI, J.

This is a suit for damages accrued to plaintiff on account of personal injuries received through defendant's negligence. Plaintiff recovered, and defendant prosecutes the appeal.

The principal question for consideration relates to the prima facie liability for the injury. Defendant owns and operates a roundhouse at Moberly, Mo., for the housing of its locomotive engines, and plaintiff was in its employ as a bridge carpenter. Defendant's roundhouse is partitioned off into stalls into which locomotive engines are run upon the tracks. Large doors are provided in connection with each stall to be closed after the locomotive is at rest therein. These doors are described in the evidence as being about 16 feet high, 6 feet in width, and 3 inches in thickness. Large posts about 12 inches by 18 inches are erected between the different stalls in the roundhouse, and the doors are swung by immense hinges upon such posts. It is said each of the doors above described weighs something near 1,000 pounds. On the evening before plaintiff was injured, a locomotive engine in some manner collided with one of the posts on which a door was swung, and dislodged it to some extent. As a result of the collision, the post was pushed in about 4 inches at the bottom and out in the opposite direction about 10 inches at the top. This occasioned the heavy door to sag upon the ground floor of the roundhouse, so that it could not be moved. Defendant's foreman in charge of his gang of bridge carpenters was directed to make the necessary repairs, and entered the roundhouse about 7 o'clock in the morning with his men for that purpose. Upon approaching the work, the foreman ordered plaintiff and another to get a ladder and place it in position near the leaning door, to the end that a man might go above and attach a rope to the door for the purpose of anchoring it to the roof of the vestibule, so it might be moved or let down with safety. In obedience to this order, plaintiff and his companion, Bailey, approached with the ladder, and were engaged in the act of installing it when the door fell upon plaintiff, and inflicted severe and permanent injuries. At the time of his injury, plaintiff was standing not far from the door with his back towards it and his head downward, engaged in the act of holding the base of the ladder on the floor of the...